I am getting ready to buy another car now. When gas prices were $4 plus, I was really thinking about buying a hybrid. Now with gas prices back down to $2 or less, should I.

I understand the environment situation, however with the cost of a hybrid being $5k plus more, I will never make the money back over the life of the 4-5 years I am going to keep the car.

So any feedback of your experience owning a hybrid, or why I should or shoulnt would be appreciated.

 

If your location is correct India. Forget the hybrid get a POS for that crappy rainny season you have and buy a royal enfield motorcycle or Harley to get around. 40-60mpg India is the 2nd largest consumer of motorcycles. If your looking at a new hybrid .. just a guess that you are at the higher end of the economic ladder in India. Doesnt India have a domestic car builder than produces really inexpensive autos?

 

Hybrids are a stop-gap technology and you won't make the money back unless you drive it to the ground. Get a cheap beater instead.

 

I owned a prius before my Evo x. The prius was a great car, I would get 45 to 55 mpg. I would fill my gas tank one every 3 weeks now i fill up every week or week and a half. The only thing that was weird is that my car insurance is cheaper in my evo then the prius. Also talking to a Firefighter they have to go through training on getting people out of hybrids due to the high voltage lines. But on a big plus I got almost all the money back that i paid for it when I traded it in with 20000 miles on it.

 

you don't think the gas price will go up??? if you think gas prices will continue to fall is pure ignorance... sooner or later the demand will go up and you will be paying probably 5 dollars a gallon especially for a premium.
for people that said that you can't get your money back from buying a hybrid.. at the price that gas is at right now it would be really easy to make up that 5k or so from gas savings....

 

Your first post on an Evo forum was about buying a Hybrid? Seriously?

 

^ lol btw i drive a camry hybrid and it is a lot better on gas then the sticker says, i get an average of 40 mpg and 500 miles per tank city. Im from india and the traffic sucks hard over there and youll just be stopping and going a lot just buy a cheap maruti or tata nano.

 

Or a Honda City (civic). I can't imagine why anyone would buy anything nice for inner-city driving in India, that place has the craziest traffic I've ever experienced. During my 8 weeks in Dehli, our driver hit 3 moving cars, 2 parked cars, and 2 guys on bikes.

If you're really serious about it, you need to do a cost analysis based on a target estimated gas price vs the difference between regular and hybrid versions of the car you are considering. That way you can get an estimated payback period for the hybrid option. When gas prices were around $3.50 / gal, I read up on the payback periods of hybrids, and the Ford Escape was at the top of the SUV hybrids at 3.2 years payback, while the Chevy Tahoe hybrid had a ridiculous 15 year turnaround. That just gives you an idea of how varied they hybrids are as far as value is concerned.

Good luck!

 

The big hype is saying gas, but saving gas doesnt mean saving money...

FYI a hybrid isnt cheap to FIX in the long run. How much do you think a battery alone cost, you cant go to your local autopart stores to buy and install one but dont listen to me...do your own homework.

 

You could get a mini cooper... 30-40mpg